Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw chaired a high-level meeting with Scheduled Commercial Banks to assess the potential impact of emerging threats linked to recent developments in Artificial Intelligence models. It includes particularly the possibility of such technologies being misused to weaponise software vulnerabilities.

During the meeting, the Union Finance Minister noted that the nature of the emerging threat from the latest AI Model is unprecedented. She highlighted the requirement of a very high degree of vigilance, preparedness and better coordination across financial institutions and banks. Ms Sitharaman advised the Indian Banks’ Association to develop a coordinated institutional mechanism to respond swiftly and effectively to any such threats. She also directed banks to engage the best available cybersecurity professionals and specialised agencies to continuously strengthen defensive and monitoring capabilities of the banks.